MARRIAGE is about sharing everything with your loved one: your life, your possessions and for one couple, their education.
Husband and wife Mark and Nicola Green will be graduating from the University of Salford on the same day this Thursday, in a graduation ceremony held at MediaCityUK.
Mark Green will be walking out of the ceremony with a 2:1 in occupational therapy, while Nicola Green will leave the same event with a first in prosthetics and orthotics.
The couple chose to enrol together after deciding to make a fresh start from their previous careers in charity work and retail.
Mr Green, 32, said: “We both just thought we needed to do something more with our lives, and as we both wanted to do it we were able to motivate ourselves. If we hadn’t done it together we probably wouldn’t have done it at all.
”It was very convenient, as we were both studying on the same campus so we could come in together and share lifts.
“We often had to do the same assignments so we had to sit in different rooms of the house so we wouldn’t have any chance of being able to copy each other’s work!
The couple, who had known each other since they went to the same school in Warrington and were married before enrolling, had previously lived in Greater Manchester and wanted to return there.“There was a slightly competitive element to studying together, but she got her result slightly before I did, so there wasn’t a big moment when we both opened our envelopes at the same time.”
Mrs Green, 29, already had a degree in sports science, and chose the University of Salford because it is the only institution in England offering a degree in prosthetics – something she had wanted to learn more about after her work with the rehabilitation charity.
She said: “I had worked with a lot of the injured veterans who had come back from Afghanistan, and that really got me interested in prosthetics and orthotics, and inspired me to apply for the course.
“I probably wouldn’t have done it if Mark hadn’t wanted to go study, and we just thought – wouldn’t it be better if we did it together?”
As well as celebrating the achievements of undergraduate and postgraduate students, the University will be awarding honorary degrees.
Former Simpsons writer Josh Weinstein will receive a Doctorate of Arts, in recognition of his outstanding contribution and achievements in television.
Speaking ahead of the graduation ceremony, he said: “The University of Salford is driving forward the next generation of our creative talent.
“Disney, for example, has a School of Animation, where some of the best animators have received their training. I think we could have something similar here, so don’t go to LA – stay here.”
Other honorary degree recipients include BBC Radio 6 Music presenter Marc Riley, Eccles-based Dementia campaigner Joy Watson, Salford engineer Professor James Powell OBE, Prestwich-based entrepreneur Farida Anderson MBE and Oldham champion for people with learning difficulties Daniel Docherty.
You can see Joy Watson interviewed as part of the Quays News: Dementia Special below.
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